


To You, Twenty Years From Now

by orphan_account



Series: Eremin Week [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Weddings, people crying tears of JOY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 09:42:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1644197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The tale of how Eren and Armin met, as told by Eren's mum.</p><p>Day One: First Meet</p>
            </blockquote>





	To You, Twenty Years From Now

All eyes were on Eren Jaeger, and it was a little disconcerting. No, that’s not right, all eyes were on Eren and Armin Jaeger-Arlert and it was still a little disconcerting. But there was only one more speech, and then everyone’s attention would turn away from them and toward the food and wine.

That speech belonged to Carla Jaeger, who was very possibly even more uncomfortable with the situation than her son. Eren gave her hand a gentle squeeze as she pushed her chair backwards to stand up.  

 “I’m not very good at this…” she started, gesturing to the room at large, “but as mother of the groom, well, mother of Eren, I suppose I’m obligated to say a few words.

“When Eren came home from his first day of school, smiling ear to ear, I was just glad he’d made it through the day. I think everyone who knew Eren when he was younger understands why I’d be worried about him getting into a fight on the first day.”

There were nodding heads, the murmuring of agreement.

“The point is, I never imagined that I’d be standing here today talking about that smile. It was twenty-one years ago, after all, and I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about marrying off my six year old.

“The reason I _am_ talking about that smile is the reason behind it. From the moment he got home until he went to sleep that night, Eren would _not_ stop talking about this kid he’d met.

“I asked him how school was, and he tried to sound indifferent, said it was ‘okay’ but he wasn’t doing a very good job of selling it with that grin of his. I asked him if he liked his classmates. He was noncommittal. Said he wasn’t sure, he’d see. Then I asked him if he made any friends, and that was apparently the right question. He gave me this kind of serious look and told me to sit down, because he had a story to tell me.

“‘Mom,’ he said matter-of-factly, ‘I have a best friend.’

“It was one of those moments where you really want to laugh, but you know your kid will take it the wrong way. So I just smiled and he went on.

“‘Mr. Smith told us to pick our seats. I sat near the front, because on TV that’s where the smart kids sit. But no one was sitting next to me! I was going to move, because I’d rather have a friend than be smart, but then this kid came and sat next to me. His hair is long, so at first I thought he was a girl. He has blonde hair and blue eyes like a princess, he was so pretty.’

“‘I don’t think he’s pretty anymore,’ he clarified, ‘Boys aren’t supposed to be pretty.’”

“I think you’re pretty, Armin!” Reiner yelled from a table near the back of the room. It earned him a smack on the head from Annie, and laughter from just about everyone else.

“You’re too late!” Eren yelled back, holding up Armin’s hand to display the gold band on his finger.

“Do you think I’m pretty?” Armin asked, batting his eyelashes at Eren.

In lieu of an actual answer, Armin got a kiss. There were whoops and cheers and what sounded like Sasha and Connie yelling ‘shots!’ Eren had honestly thought they were joking about taking a shot every time he and Armin kissed. He should have known better.

When the noise died down, Carla began again.

“I asked him what the boy’s name was. I think you can all take a wild guess what the answer was. Eren said, ‘His name is Armin, which is kind of a weird name, but I didn’t tell him that. You don’t tell friends that their names are weird. I know if someone said Eren was a weird name I’d probably hit them.’”

It was apparently Ymir’s turn to interrupt. She tried to make it seem like she was just talking to Historia, but it was far too loud to convince anyone. “He hit me for that once, actually.”

Eren could tell that his mother wanted to go into angry mom mode and yell at him for hitting Ymir. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she did, wedding be damned. Instead, she took a deep breath and re-started her speech for what she hoped was the last time.

“He said that Armin was really smart, and that he asked a lot of questions. Then he got his bag and pulled out this book about South America that he got from the school library. Apparently Armin had taken out one about Asia and they were going to figure out all the places they were going to go together. ‘Armin and I are going to explore the world’ is what he told me.

“I’ll be honest, I thought it was nonsense. He was six. A lot was going to change before he was old enough to go explore the world.

“Obviously I was wrong. Though sometimes I sort of wish I wasn’t. You’ve all seen the white water rafting pictures, right?”

There was a mixture of laughter and calls for a slideshow of adventure pictures, but everyone seemed to sense that things were drawing to an end, and they quieted down in record time.

“I’ve seen Armin and Eren grow up together. And throughout all that, from the very first day that Eren told me about his new best friend, Armin’s been the reason behind my baby’s smile.”

She’d managed to hold it together pretty well through most of the speech, but it was only a matter of time before the tears started. Carla took a deep breath and wiped away the first traces of dampness at the corner of her eye.

“I’m going to finish this up before I start crying,” she said with a weak laugh, “Armin, I’m so glad you sat next to Eren that day. I’m glad you got him to take out that stupid book, even if he wouldn’t shut up about monkeys for the next month. I’m glad you proved me wrong when I thought you wouldn’t stay friends for this long. And I’m so glad that I get to stand up here and make a fool of myself. My baby married his best friend today and…”

Tears were flowing freely now, and not just Carla’s. Eren was looking up at her, eyes glistening with moisture. Next to him, Armin was rubbing furiously at his eyes. There wasn’t a single member of the wedding party who wasn’t tearing up.

“…And even Mikasa’s crying, so I’m going to take that as my cue.”  

The whole room erupted into loud applause. Before she had a chance to sit down, Carla found herself enveloped in her son’s arms. A couple of seconds later a second set of arms wrapped around her.

“Thanks mom,” Eren murmured as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“Thank you,” Armin echoed.

“I really am glad,” she managed through her tears.

“We know,” Eren replied.

The applause and the hug ended almost simultaneously and Carla finally allowed herself to sit down. She was happy to see that her wine glass was full. She was looking forward to a well-deserved drink. And years and years of Eren being as happy as he had been on the day he first met Armin.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very excited about Eremin week!  
> I have a feeling I will grow less and less excited as time wears on because seven is a lot of days and a lot of fics.  
> But, as long as no one expects quality we should be good.


End file.
